Writing a SUMMARY of an article

The purpose of a summary is to give the reader a clear, objective picture of the original text. Most
importantly, the summary restates only the main points of a text or a lecture without giving examples or
details, such as dates, numbers or statistics.

Guidelines for writing a summary of an article:

• State the main ideas of the article.
• Identify the most important details that support the main ideas.
• Write your summary in your own words; avoid copying phrases and sentences from the article unless
they’re direct quotations.
• Express the underlying meaning of the article, not just the superficial details.
• Your summary should be about one third of the length of the original article. For a one-paragraph
summary, discuss each supporting point in a separate sentence. Give 1-2 explanations for each supporting
point. For a multi-paragraph summary, discuss each supporting point in a separate paragraph.

How to Identify the Main Idea of an Article

1. Gather information from the title.

2. Identify the place it was published, as this can help you determine the intended audience.
3. Determine the date of publication.
4. Determine the type of essay. (Is it expository-objaśniający, argumentative, literary, scholarly?)
5. Take note of the tone of the piece.

Identify certain notions or arguments that seem to be repeated throughout.

How to Identify Important Arguments in an Article

1. Read on a paper copy or use a computer program that lets you make annotations.
2. Underline the topic sentence of each paragraph. (If no one sentence tells the main concept, then write
a summary of the main point in the margin.)
3. Write that sentence in your own words on the side of the page or on another piece of paper.
4. When you finish the article, read all the topic sentences you marked or wrote down.
5. In your own words, rewrite those main ideas.
6. Use complete sentences with good transition words.
7. Be sure you don't use the same words, phrases, or sentence structure as the original.
8. You may find you need to leave out some of the unimportant details.
9. Your summary should be as short and concise as possible.

In short, you want to boil the article down to its main, supporting arguments. Let everything else fall away,
and what you are left with is an argument or an opinion, and the arguments that support it.

Before writing the summary:

1. For a text, read, mark, and annotate the original. (For a lecture, work with the notes you took.)
o highlight the topic sentence
o highlight key points/key words/phrases
o highlight the concluding sentence
o outline each paragraph in the margin
2. Take notes on the following:
o the source (author--first/last name, title, date of publication, volume number, place of
publication, publisher, URL, etc.)
o the main idea of the original (paraphrased)
o the major supporting points (in outline form)
 o major supporting explanations (e.g. reasons/causes or effects)

Writing your summary--Steps:

1. Organize your notes into an outline which includes main ideas and supporting points but no
examples or details (dates, numbers, statistics).
2. Write an introductory paragraph that begins with a frame, including an in-text citation of the
source and the author as well as a reporting verb to introduce the main idea. The reporting
verb is generally in present tense.
3. At the end of your summary, double-space and write a reference for the in-text citation (see #8
below), following APA guidelines.

ARTICLE:

In the article, ____________(author's last name) (year) argues

(claims/reports/contends/maintains/states) that ___________________________ (main
idea/argument).

Example: In his article, Serwer (1997) describes how Michael Dell founded Dell Computers
and claims that Dell’s low-cost, direct-sales strategy and high quality standards accounted for
Dell’s enormous success.

In your body paragraphs, when you are summarizing the author’s arguments, be sure to use phrases that
remind your audience you are paraphrasing. Here is a list of some of those phrases (substitute “the author”
with your author’s last name):

● The author states that…

● In the article, the author argues that….

● According to the author…

● The author believes that…

● Based on these conclusions, the author argues that…

PRACTICE

Read the article, summarizing each paragraph

This step allows you to deal with the article one paragraph at a time instead of trying to swallow it whole.
You don’t even have to do multiple readings. Just make sure that each of your paragraph summaries is
accurate.

Here is how you do it. As you read each paragraph, your task is twofold:

1. Ask these two questions repeatedly:

1. What or who is this paragraph about?
2. What about it (or what about this person)?
2. Write down the answer in one or two complete sentences.

Note that if your summary goal is to write three or more paragraphs, then you should probably write more
than two sentences per summarized paragraph in the second step here.
If, on the other hand, your goal is one paragraph total, then one or two sentences per paragraph summary
should do the job. This is why it is important for you to get totally clear on how many words you want in
your final summary.

When you’re doing this procedure for each paragraph, you’re creating a list of short paragraph summaries
that together will eventually summarize the entire article.

Also, by the time you’re done reading the article this way, you will have a pretty good idea of its overall
message.

Let’s read and summarize an article. First, let’s set a goal of writing one paragraph of about 150-200
words. This means we shouldn’t use direct quotations. And we have no other requirements. Great.

Note that if you are writing a summary that has to contain more than one paragraph, refer to my tutorial on
how to write body paragraphs. Then simply take what you’ve learned here about summarizing and apply it
to each paragraph in a longer summary.

Let’s continue. We need an article to summarize, and here it is below. Let’s read it, summarizing each paragraph.

Paragraph 1

Growing up, like most of his peers, Ahmad worshipped his parents. And wonderful, loving parents they
were. They provided him with the best education they could buy and lavished love and attention on their
only son. As he was growing into an educated, responsible adult, they insisted that he go into the medical
profession, in spite of his expressed desire of becoming a teacher. Today, Ahmad is a doctor at the NYU
hospital and earns a bountiful living. The only problem is that he’s not happy. His childhood dream of
becoming a teacher did not materialize and became a source of a nagging sense of a lack of fulfillment.

Summary of paragraph 1

Questions and answers:

What or who is this paragraph about?

– This paragraph is about Ahmad.

What about Ahmad?

– His parents insisted that he enter the medical profession. He is a successful doctor, but he is unhappy and
wishes he were a teacher.

Let’s put this together into one or two complete sentences. As we do, we should also change some of the
words to make sure we don’t sound as if we’re just repeating stuff. Let’s do it:

Ahmad’s parents steered him into the medical field, against his wishes. As a result, he is a successful doctor,
but his unfulfilled dream of becoming a teacher haunts him.

Note how we used the phrase “steered into the medical field” to replace the phrase “insisted that he go into
the medical profession.”

We want to use our own words and shorten the content at the same time.

Paragraph 2
A recent Gallup poll revealed that 85% of workers worldwide are unhappy or downright miserable at their
jobs. A study published in the International Journal of Advanced Research in 2019 found that parents exert a
significant influence on their children’s career choices, especially in some cultures and parts of the world.
Could there be a correlation? A cursory look at the issue can be revealing. Children tend to regard their
parents as gods, capable of everything except error. This misconception eventually wanes, but the process
can take years or even decades. But can parents really provide great career advice or direction, given their
high authority in the eyes of their children? Most parents, studies show, never bother to uncover their
children’s talents, strengths, and weaknesses. They generally either do not care about or fail to understand
the importance of matching the child’s inborn potential with a career choice.

Questions and answers:

What or who is this paragraph about?

– This paragraph is about widespread job dissatisfaction.

– It is also about parents as bad career advisors.

What about these concepts?

– Job dissatisfaction rates are appalling. One possible cause is parental pressure. But parents don’t make
good career advisors because they almost never bother to explore their child’s inborn potential.

Let’s put this together into one or two complete sentences:

Job dissatisfaction rates are appalling, and one possible cause is parental pressure. While children tend to
deem their parents ultimate authorities on everything, they should take parental advice about choosing a
profession with a grain of salt. Parents often do not bother to evaluate their children’s inborn talents,
strengths, and weaknesses.

Okay, we have three sentences here, but that’s okay. We can trim down the final result, if necessary. Let’s
keep going.

Paragraph 3

Furthermore, parents are often motivated by factors other than their child’s sense of fulfillment.
Psychologists claim that parents are often unconsciously guided by their own self-interest or by a false sense
of security. They want the best for the future of the family as whole, and that is often associated with a high
status. In other words, it may be more important for the parents that their child make them a proud member
of a community by gaining a high post or a lucrative salary. They may also consider some careers more
stable and safe. This notion persists in parents in spite of overwhelming evidence that the stability of a
career is highly dependent on the employee’s satisfaction with the career choice. Those who feel miserable
at the job sooner or later find a way to escape it and end up taking a pay cut in return for higher job
satisfaction.

Questions and answers:

What or who is this paragraph about?

– This paragraph is about more reasons why parents should not guide their children’s careers.

What about these reasons?

– Parents often make bad career counselors because they are driven by selfish yet unconscious motivations.
Their desire for status and security backfires when their children change careers and take a pay cut to gain
higher job satisfaction.

Let’s put this together into one or two complete sentences:

Parents often act out of selfish yet unconscious motivations. Their desire for status and security backfires
when their children change careers and take a pay cut to gain more job satisfaction.

Paragraph 4

Despite the sad statistics, not all parental career guidance is bad. Stacey is a highly paid educator who loves
her job. Her parents took care to learn as much as possible about her as she was growing up and were able to
guide her to an ideal career. She is now a professor of music at a university. She gets to perform and teach
her beloved musical instrument – the violin. Contrary to what many may think, Stacey’s parents are not
musicians, and she did not follow in their footsteps. They are psychologists, and that explains a lot. Stacey is
lucky, but not many people can boast parents who understand the importance of exploring the child’s inner
world or care to uncover the child’s potential. Most parents simply don’t know.

Questions and answers:

What or who is this paragraph about?

– This paragraph is mostly about Stacey.

What about Stacey?

– She is an example of when parental career advice works out well. However, most people can’t expect to
turn out like she did.

Let’s put this together into one or two complete sentences:

Sometimes parental career advice works, and Stacey is a great example. She’s an accomplished musician
and educator and loves her work life. Unfortunately, most people cannot expect a similar outcome.

We have three sentences again. But that’s fine. Sometimes a paragraph contains more than two distinct
ideas. Just write them down in a concise form. Keep moving forward.

Paragraph 5

In a world where parents make such incompetent career advisors, young adults can and should consult with
professionals with regards to their future. Career counselors and coaches can help a young person navigate
the muddy waters of vocational decision-making. By taking into account such considerations as personality
type, passion, a gravitation towards a subject, and strengths and weaknesses, among other factors, these
professionals can guide a young person towards a career that is likely to be rewarding and fulfilling.
Ironically, a good income and job security are likely to follow, as well.

Questions and answers:

What or who is this paragraph about?

– This paragraph is about an alternative approach to making career choices.

What about it?

– Using the services of career counselors and coaches is a much better way to decide on a career. There is
an irony in this, too.

Let’s put this together into one or two complete sentences:

Using the services of career counselors and coaches is a much better way to decide on a career. Ironically,
this can increase the chances of higher pay and better job security.

Awesome! We’re ready for the next step.

Step 3. Put the paragraph summaries together

At this point, you’ll have a list of paragraph summaries. They make the bulk of your final summary
paragraph, though they need some work.

In this step, type all these short paragraph summaries together into a word processor, one after another.
When you’re done, you’ll have a raw summary ready to be organized.

And let’s do it. We’ll simply copy all of the sentences we just wrote and paste them in sequence into one
paragraph.

Raw Summary

This raw summary is 172 words long, which is perfectly within our goal. So, we have the amount of material
we need. Now, we need to take the next step.
Step 4. Organize the raw summary from general to specific

Here is something that is very important to understand about essay writing in general. An argumentative
essay should proceed from general to specific.

The truth is, however, that most articles you will summarize do not necessarily follow this rule. This means
that you can find a specific statement, then a general one, then back to specific, and then to something
irrelevant, and so on.

In other words, articles are not always examples of great academic writing. This is why the value of your
summary is not only to provide a shorter version of an article but also to help the reader understand it.

To make the article easier to comprehend, your task is to arrange your summary from general to specific.
This means the following:

 State the summarized main point (thesis) in the very beginning

 Provide the summaries of the supporting points immediately after the thesis
 Provide summaries of examples last

A thesis is the main point of an article.

It is the most general statement found in it. So state it upfront. No need for an introduction because including
one would take away from your summary’s conciseness.

The supporting points are the next most general statements. These are the other big ideas in the article,
besides the main point.

And examples are the most specific bits of content. They serve to illustrate the main and supporting points.
That’s why they should be included after the big ideas, not before.

In this step, we’ll simply arrange the statements we have in the order of general to specific. We won’t do any
other editing here because that comes in the next step.

Let’s do it. And here’s our resulting paragraph.

Summary – Arranged from General to Specific

If you read this organized summary, you’ll notice how it flows much better than the raw version. That’s
because the thoughts are arranged in a logical manner.

For example, we moved the example of Ahmad from the beginning of the article to the end of the section
about parental pressure in career planning. That’s where this example really belongs.

You see, if the author begins an article with an example, the reader doesn’t have a frame of reference
because she doesn’t know what this is an example of.

We correct this by organizing the summary from general to specific. But we have one final step to take to
polish the summary and make sure it flows smoothly from beginning to end.

Step 5. Make the final tweaks

In this step, you want to make some final edits and make this summary exemplary. To do that, execute the
following potential tweaks:

If needed, add the main point as one sentence in the beginning.

Authors of articles don’t necessarily include one perfect statement that would summarize the entire article
perfectly.
After organizing your summary from general to specific, you may (or may not) notice that your most general
statement still does not include the whole main idea of the article. If that’s the case, then put one together
and state it as the first sentence of the summary.

Importantly, in most cases, you should include a statement that introduces the author of the article and
possibly the article title. The title can be shortened.

Here is the phrase template you can use:

“In his article on X, [Author’s Name] (year of publication) argues that…”

Simply begin your summary with this statement, substituting the subject, the name of the author, and the
year of publication. You may tweak this format depending on the citation style you use.

You’ll see the example of this in the final version of the summary.

Make sure sentences transition well from one to the next.

Remember, at this stage, you just have a sequence of sentences that you spliced together in the previous
steps. Now, you need to make sure that the entire summary reads smoothly.

This means that you may need to tweak parts of some of the sentences to ensure nice transitions.

Proofread – remove any errors or typos.

Finally, make sure that the article summary contains no grammatical errors and no typos. And when you’re
done – you’re done!

And let’s do it. Let’s make these final tweaks to our sample summary.

Article Summary – Final Version

In his article on parental career advice, Thompson (2019) argues that career choice is an important
decision that is best made with professional rather than parental guidance. While children tend to deem
their parents as ultimate authorities on everything, they should take parental advice about choosing a
profession with a grain of salt. Parents often do not bother to evaluate their children’s inborn talents,
strengths, and weaknesses. And their advice is often self-serving, albeit unconsciously. The result is
appalling rates of job dissatisfaction. Ahmad is a perfect example. He is a well-paid doctor who would
rather be a teacher and enjoy his work. That said, when parents do pay attention, they can guide their child
well, as Stacey’s example shows. She is an accomplished violinist and teacher who was guided by her
psychologist parents and could not be happier as a professional. However, most children cannot boast
parents who are psychologists, and uninformed parents will make mistakes with regards to their children’s
future. Therefore, it is better for young adults to consult with a professional in early adulthood to determine
the most fulfilling career course, ironically increasing the chances of higher pay and better job security.

Note the following facts about this final, tweaked version:

 It opens with a sentence that mentions the source (subject, author, and year).
 The first sentence also summarizes the entire point of the article.
 The sequence of sentences flows smoothly.
 We moved some parts around a little for better logical connections.
 We made more changes in wording and phrasing to make it even more concise and non-repetitive.
 LANGUAGE

Examples of frames:

1. According to ___________________ (author's last name) (year),

____________________________________ (main idea; S + V + C).
2. _______________ (author's last name) (year) argues that
___________________________________________ (main idea; S + V + C).
3. If no author is given, use the title of the article:
According to "_____________________" (Title of the Article) (year),
_________________________________ (main idea; S+V+C).
4. _________________ (topic/NP) has had a major impact on the_________________
(NP) of _________________ (main idea; NP) (author's last name, year).

5. ________________'s (author's last name) article on __________________ (topic/NP)

(year) discusses the _____________ (main idea; Noun Phrase) of _____________
(NP).

In a longer summary, remind your reader that you are paraphrasing by using "reminder phrases," such as

1. The author goes on to say that ...

2. The article (author) further states that ...
3. (Author's last name) also states/maintains/argues that ...
4. (Author's last name) also believes that ...
5. (Author's last name) concludes that

Try to make use of different verbs and adverbs. Your choice of author tag verbs and adverbs can contribute
to the way you analyze the article. Certain words will create a specific tone. See the tables for a selection of
different word choices.

List of Author Tags

Says Explains Comments

Persuades Suggests Understands
Argues – uzasadniać, argumentować,
Reminds Helps us understand
twierdzić, dowodzić, utrzymywać
Elucidates – objaśniać, naświetlać, Intimates – dawać do zrozumienia,
Presents
wyjaśniać wskazywać, oznajmiać
Concludes Presents the idea Creates the impression
Criticizes Defines Highlights
Concedes – przyznawać, oddawać States – określać, wskazywać,
Shows
słuszność oświadczać
Thinks Admits Lists
Notes Analyzes Disagrees
Observes Points out Emphasizes
Implies – sugerować, insynuować, dawać
Discusses Identifies
do zrozumienia, implikować, oznaczać
Insists Responds Shows
Proves Rejects Suggests
 Adverbs to Use With Author Tags

Conclusively -ostatecznie, ponad

Expressively Realistically
wszelką wątpliwość, decydująco
Tightly – kurczowo, mocno Angrily Radically
Dutifuly – sumiennie,
Clearly Evenly – spokojnie,
obowiązkowo, posłusznie,
Occasionally Quickly Ironically
Eagerly – gorliwie, z zapałem, z
Honestly Elegantly
przejęciem, skwapliwie
Sharply – uszczypliwie, ostro,
Rarely Loosely
bardzo, rażąco,
Hastily – nierozważnie,
Exactly Happily pochopnie, lekkomyślnie,
naprędce
Perfectly Sternly – stanowczo, surowo Unexpectedly
Sometimes Never Justly – słusznie, sprawiedliwie
Devotedly – z oddaniem, z
Warily – ostrożnie, z rezerwą,
poświęceniem, żarliwie, całym Finally
przezornie
sercem
Wearily – ociężale, ze znudzeniem Completely Fully
Doggedly – zawzięcie, wytrwale,
Iconically Sarcastically
uparcie
Seriously Carefully Politely

Reporting Verbs:

INDICATING
STRONG
NEUTRAL RESEARCH COUNTERARGUMENT SUGGESTION CRITICISM
ARGUMENT
RESULTS
refute (zaprzeczać,
argue state show sprostować, odpierać) the suggest criticize
claim
assert –
twierdzić, note demonstrate argue against recommend
zapewniać
claim report illustrate
contend –
twierdzić, explain indicate
utrzymywać
maintain discuss point out
(studies/authors)
insist illustrate
prove
posit –
sugerować,
(studies/authors)
zakładać, observe
found
przypuszczać,
postulować

Question: What is "skimming?"

Answer: "Skimming" means that you don't read every word. You look at the bold print in a chapter, the first
sentences of each paragraph and look over a page to see if there are important points. Skimming is like
doing an overview. Skimming is easy if you are reading in your own language and often we do skimming
when we are looking at a newspaper, or scrolling down our social media posts. Basically, when you skim
read, you are looking for the most interesting or most important things. When you find it, you might read a
whole section, but you might also skip a lot that doesn't seem important.

Question: Our teacher told our group to write a discussion summarizing our assignment? What can I
include?

Answer: Summarizing means telling all of the most important points. Often, in English, the main ideas are
in the first sentence of each paragraph, but sometimes they can be at the end or the middle. Occasionally, the
author doesn't actually say the main idea, but gives you a lot of details and lets you read them and decide on
the main idea by yourself. Whatever type of writing you are summarizing, the basic way to do it is the same.
You read the whole thing through and underline the parts which seem the most important. Then you think
about the article and decide on the main point the author wanted you to understand after reading. I tell my
students to think about what the author wants you to think, do or believe. Often, there will be a sentence in
the article which says that main idea. That sentence is often in the beginning of the article. Write that
sentence down and include the name of the article and the author. Then you need to read each paragraph and
write down the main idea. A summary does not usually include all of the examples. It includes all of the
main ideas. Putting those all together makes a summary.

Question: Which tense do we have to use in a summery on an article written in simple past about a past
event? Should we use the present perfect to summarize the events?

Answer: There is more than one way to write this sort of summary. The most important thing is to be
consistent in the verb tense you use. All articles are written in the past and are published before you are
summarizing them. Generally, I would follow this format:

In the article written by John Jacobs about cats ruling the world, he states that "Cats make better leaders than
men." However, in his conclusion, he stated that he would never want to live in that world.

Articles/research papers:

hg.org

harvardlawreview.org

academic.oup.com

legalmatch.com

https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/facsch_lawrev/

papers.ssrn.com

inquiriesjournal.com

theconversation.com

justia.com

thestudentlawyer.com

Sources of full text law review articles

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the full text of the articles that they index.

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Database of full text, PDF law review articles; use advanced search to search by topic or search specific
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HeinOnline is the most comprehensive law review articles database, as coverage begins with the first issue
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Journals and Law Reviews contains full text documents from law reviews and CLE materials from U.S. and
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